Following
Amos Tversky (1937-1996), a towering figure in cognitive and mathematical psychology, devoted his professional life to the study of similarity, judgment, and decision making. He had a unique ability to master the technicalities of normative ideals and then to intuit and demonstrate experimentally their systematic violation due to the vagaries and consequences of human information processing. He created new areas of study and helped transform disciplines as varied as economics, law, medicine, political science, philosophy, and statistics. This book collects forty of Tversky's articles, selected by him in collaboration with the editor during the last months of Tversky's life. It is divided into three sections: Similarity, Judgment, and Preferences. The Preferences section is subdivided into Probabilistic Models of Choice, Choice under Risk and Uncertainty, and Contingent Preferences. Included are several articles written with his frequent collaborator, Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman.
British physicist at the University of Oxford. Pioneered the field of quantum computation, formulated a description for a quantum Turing machine, and specified an algorithm for quantum computers. Proposer of using entangled states and Bell's theorem for quantum key distribution. Proponent of the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics.
Astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, science communicator, author, and professor. Known for research on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, assembly of the Pioneer plaque and the Voyager Golden Record, and advocating for the greenhouse effect hypothesis on Venus.
Theoretical physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, theory of quantum electrodynamics, and the physics of superfluidity. Nobel Prize recipient for his contributions to the development of quantum electrodynamics.
Israeli author, public intellectual, historian, and professor. Author of the popular science bestsellers Sapiens, Homo Deus, and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. His writings explore various topics including free will, consciousness, intelligence, happiness, and suffering.